News Disney mask policy at Walt Disney World theme parks

[ElvisMickey]

At EPCOT right now. I would say about 90% of guests are maskless outside. In regards to inside, everyone seems to be with the program aside from the family of four in front of me who dropped their masks on Living With The Land as soon as we left the dock

 

[arich35]

At EPCOT right now. I would say about 90% of guests are maskless outside. In regards to inside, everyone seems to be with the program aside from the family of four in front of me who dropped their masks on Living With The Land as soon as we left the dock

I am not going to lie, in some rides I lowered my mask for a few minutes when I felt it was safe. Living With the Land was one of them, we went at night and we were the only one in the boat and nobody in front of us.

 

[ElvisMickey]

I am not going to lie, in some rides I lowered my mask for a few minutes when I felt it was safe. Living With the Land was one of them, we went at night and we were the only one in the boat and nobody in front of us.

I won’t say anything lol

 

[Roy G. Dis]

I am not going to lie, in some rides I lowered my mask for a few minutes when I felt it was safe. Living With the Land was one of them, we went at night and we were the only one in the boat and nobody in front of us.

I thought for sure Disney had their best. men. watching the security cameras for this type of malfeasance.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I thought for sure Disney had their best. men. watching the security cameras for this type of malfeasance.

Don’t worry. They spit in his/her chicken nuggets.

 

[zann285]

I thought for sure Disney had their best. men. watching the security cameras for this type of malfeasance.

As it happens, back in December when we were riding Living with the Land we were in the front of the second boat. There was a young couple on the back seat of the front boat. The girl kept sneakily pulling down her mask throughout the ride. They would make announcements overhead reminding guests to keep their masks on during the ride, but she kept pulling it down. Eventually a cast member met the boat in one of the greenhouses and told her directly to keep her mask pulled up. She then did for the rest of the ride.

 

[arich35]

As it happens, back in December when we were riding Living with the Land we were in the front of the second boat. There was a young couple on the back seat of the front boat. The girl kept sneakily pulling down her mask throughout the ride. They would make announcements overhead reminding guests to keep their masks on during the ride, but she kept pulling it down. Eventually a cast member met the boat in one of the greenhouses and told her directly to keep her mask pulled up. She then did for the rest of the ride.

Must be slipping at 9:50 at night

 

[Walt Disney1955]

If they were under 1 year old when this started, then they’ve likely been home with their family, unmasked, this whole time, so it shouldn’t have much effect.

That poster was right, babies in many cases have seen a lot of masked people, and they don't know what is going on. Their development starts when they see facial expressions.

 

[DisneyNeighbor]

Millions? Not sure it's that high, but some are far sure. I actually have a friend seriously say this to me. It's a combination of lots of things but the masks just make it intolerable. Personally I was wishing for masks to drop for my trip outdoors. I so didn't want to deal with it. My desire to vacation won (and those in my family wanted to go to). I'm not anti-mask at all either, but outdoors really isn't fun or necessary so I wanted it gone to make me feel more comfortable.

I would never plan a trip while any mask was required anywhere on property or limitations on park capacity. Why spend the money to be uncomfortable or not be able to access the park when you wanted.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Exactly, so Orange County’s arbitrary phases mean little for WDW.

In his original April 28 announcement, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings was asked if he had discussed his plans with local theme park operators (e.g. WDW, UO, and SeaWorld). His response was:

Yes, we’ve had communication with them, they will make some adjustments. I believe that the adjustments they will make will be based upon keeping their guests safe. And this allows them, as they manage the lines and other things for those outdoor types of settings, and even indoors, they are able to increase capacity as a result of that.​

Mayor Demings' plans included eliminating outdoor mask requirements when 50% of Orlando residents 16 & over had received their first dose.

Early last week, Mayor Demings indicated that the county was on track to reach 50% by Friday.

On Friday, Mayor Demings announced the 50% milestone had been reached.

By Saturday morning, Disney had eliminated the outdoor mask requirement and had updated signs posted throughout its parks.

Clearly, Orange County’s "arbitrary phases" meant everything to WDW.

 

[disneygeek90]

In his original April 28 announcement, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings was asked if he had discussed his plans with local theme park operators (e.g. WDW, UO, and SeaWorld). His response was:

Yes, we’ve had communication with them, they will make some adjustments. I believe that the adjustments they will make will be based upon keeping their guests safe. And this allows them, as they manage the lines and other things for those outdoor types of settings, and even indoors, they are able to increase capacity as a result of that.​

Mayor Demings' plans included eliminating outdoor mask requirements when 50% of Orlando residents 16 & over had received their first dose.

Early last week, Mayor Demings indicated that the county was on track to reach 50% by Friday.

On Friday, Mayor Demings announced the 50% milestone had been reached.

By Saturday morning, Disney had eliminated the outdoor mask requirement and had updated signs posted throughout its parks.

Clearly, Orange County’s "arbitrary phases" meant everything to WDW.

I personally think the CDC "no mask for vaccinated individuals" just two days prior had more of an impact for the decision.

 

[ParentsOf4]

I personally think the CDC "no mask for vaccinated individuals" just two days prior had more of an impact for the decision.

The CDC announcement made corporate Disney's decision more palpable to the news media and general public. After all, we had a flood of major retailers announce major changes to their mask mandates within hours of the CDC change. Most of these announcements followed the guidelines announced by the CDC.

Remember, the CDC says the unvaccinated should wear masks indoors and outdoors, while the vaccinated do not have to wear masks indoors and outdoors.

Disney is not following the CDC recommendations. Disney is following Mayor Demings' mandates.

 

[disneygeek90]

The CDC announcement made corporate Disney's decision more palpable to the news media and general public. After all, we had a flood of major retailers announce major changes to their mask mandates within hours of the CDC change. Most of these announcements followed the guidelines announced by the CDC.

Remember, the CDC still says the unvaccinated should wear masks indoors and outdoors, while the vaccinated do not have to wear masks indoors and outdoors.

Disney is not following the CDC recommendations. Disney is following Mayor Demings' mandates.

No, but they haven't been following them 100% to begin with. As PotC put it... more like "guidelines." I do think it was a reasonable compromise between the two since FL can't ask for proof of records.

Disney mandate started about a month before Demings' county mandate started last summer.

 

[ToTBellHop]

The question is not what Disney did last summer. It's whether Mayor Demings' specific 50% mandate (which he explicitly said was discussed with local park operators such as Disney) had a bigger influence on the WDW mask policy change than a CDC guidance change that caught governors, business leaders, news outlets, and the general public completely offguard.

Disney clearly was planning to ease the mask requirement before the summer, after receiving permission from Mayor Demings to do so. The only surprise here is that Disney moved on this immediately, rather than trail UO by 2-3 weeks like they usually do. But there certainly was going to be no outdoor masks required at WDW by July 4.

The CDC announcement the day before Mayor Demings' "pre-announced" announcement simply created a national firestorm that provided corporate Disney with a tremendous amount of cover.

Absolutely.

 

[disneygeek90]

The question is not what Disney did last summer. It's whether Mayor Demings' specific 50% mandate (which he explicitly said was discussed with local park operators such as Disney) had a bigger influence on the WDW mask policy change than a CDC guidance change that caught governors, business leaders, news outlets, and the general public completely offguard.

Disney clearly was planning to ease the mask requirement before the summer, after receiving permission from Mayor Demings to do so. The only surprise here is that Disney moved on this immediately, rather than trail UO by 2-3 weeks like they usually do. But there certainly was going to be no outdoor masks required at WDW by July 4.

The CDC announcement the day before Mayor Demings' "pre-announced" announcement simply created a national firestorm that provided corporate Disney with a tremendous amount of cover.

I'm at WDW right now a some Cast Members told me they saw signs changing on Friday soon after Mayor Demings' announcement.

Disney clearly had this planned out days before the CDC's Thursday announcement.

Yeah, I live here. I know everything has changed quickly.

At this point, it's semantics. I'm enjoying the no mask outside rule, but I'm also fine if the mask inside queues takes a little longer while cases are controlled.

 

[Jlwise2021]

When does Mayor Demings announce his press conferences, and does anyone know where to find the rolling 14-day average for Orange County? We have to be under 5% or very close. Cases in the US are way down, and I’m thinking Gottlieb was right when he said masks would be barely used by June.

 

[DCBaker]

When does Mayor Demings announce his press conferences, and does anyone know where to find the rolling 14-day average for Orange County? We have to be under 5% or very close. Cases in the US are way down, and I’m thinking Gottlieb was right when he said masks would be barely used by June.

The next presser is Wednesday.

 

[Nickp1983]

As it happens, back in December when we were riding Living with the Land we were in the front of the second boat. There was a young couple on the back seat of the front boat. The girl kept sneakily pulling down her mask throughout the ride. They would make announcements overhead reminding guests to keep their masks on during the ride, but she kept pulling it down. Eventually a cast member met the boat in one of the greenhouses and told her directly to keep her mask pulled up. She then did for the rest of the ride.

Hahaha. That's all kinds of hilarious.

Don't mess with the mouse. He's watching

 

[wdwmagic]

How guests are responding to Disney World's new mask rules as Disney increases capacity at the parks​

How guests are responding to Disney World's new mask rules as Disney increases capacity at the parks

We are a few days into Disney's new mask rules at Walt Disney World - here is what is happening.

www.wdwmagic.com

 

[Parker in NYC]

How guests are responding to Disney World's new mask rules as Disney increases capacity at the parks​

How guests are responding to Disney World's new mask rules as Disney increases capacity at the parks

We are a few days into Disney's new mask rules at Walt Disney World - here is what is happening.

www.wdwmagic.com

You couldn't get me to WDW now even with a free club level stay and no-line access to every attraction.